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Main » Articles » Mono-Colored Decks with Strixhaven Potential

Mono-Colored Decks with Strixhaven Potential

Mike Likes
Posted on April 1, 2021
 Reddit

Hello everyone. As we continue to receive previews of cards from our next expansion, Strixhaven: School of Mages, you might be looking for a deck that these cards can slot into. The easiest place for many of them to find a home will be in a mono-colored deck, so this week I'm taking a look at five mono-colored decks from Platinum or Mythic ranked players on Magic Arena that have recently achieved six or more wins in a row. Let's get started.

Mono-White

Starting at the top of the Magic color wheel, we'll begin by taking a look at the White deck.

Mono-White | KHM Standard | Unknown Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

Most of the Mono-White decks I've written about in the past have been centered on gaining life, but this deck is different. While there may be ways of gaining life, such as the lifelink on Alseid of Life's Bounty, you won't want to be attacking much with this Nymph. Instead, you'll utilize its activated ability to give protection to one of your creatures. Most often, you'll do this to save a Seasoned Hallowblade from being destroyed when there is nothing in your hand that you want to discard. It can also be a useful ability to use to save other supporting creatures as well, like Luminarch Aspirant. However, be careful not to try to save a Lavabrink Venturer with it if you've chosen odd for the mana values that Lavabrink Venturer has protection from. In a similar manner, if you've chosen even for its protection, you won't be able to target Lavabrink Venturer with Feat of Resistance or the +1/+1 counter that Luminarch Aspirant provides each turn.

One inclusion in this deck that I love is Funeral Longboat. For an investment of two mana, you gain a 3/3 creature that has vigilance. It can be used to attack during your turn, and still offers a means of protection against an opponent's attack. The best part about this Vehicle is that it only requires 1 power to crew it. That means there is never a time that you'll find yourself unable to crew Funeral Longboat, as long as you have an untapped creature. It also provides you a way to attack with creatures like Luminarch Aspirant, without putting them directly into harm's way.

Mono-Blue

Next, we'll take a look at the Mono-Blue deck, which happens to be a control deck.

Mono-Blue | KHM Standard | Unknown Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

With such counterspells as Essence Scatter and Saw It Coming, you'll be able to dictate what creatures your opponent manages to get onto the battlefield. You also have spells like Negate that counter noncreature spells specifically. If you find yourself without one of these counterspells in hand when they cast a permanent you don't want to see, you have ways to deal with that situation. Spells such as Into the Roil and the adventure side of Brazen Borrower can allow you to return a nonland permanent your opponent controls to their hand. This gives you an additional chance to counter whatever was returned when they play it for a second time.

All of these counterspells play nicely with one of the finishers for this deck, Shark Typhoon. The other finisher this deck has hasn't seen nearly as much play, but it shouldn't be overlooked. Ascendant Spirit is the card I'm talking about, and it has the potential to end games relatively quickly. Since every land in this deck is a Snow Land, and since this is a control deck, you're likely to have some unspent mana available at the end of your opponent's turn. You can use that mana to power up Ascendant Spirit to its final form, where it is a 6/6 Spirit Warrior Angel with flying that allows you to draw a card whenever it deals combat damage to a player. Sure, it takes a total of 10 mana to get to its final stage, but that mana is paid in small chunks and over the course of a few turns.

Mono-Black

Our next deck is Mono-Black. It features the God of Fright from Kaldheim. Let's check it out.

Mono-Black | KHM Standard | Unknown Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

Tergrid, God of Fright is the star of this deck. Her ability to put any creature your opponent sacrifices or permanent they discard onto the graveyard under your control is what makes this deck shine. The majority of the remaining cards in the deck offer ways of causing your opponent to either discard a card (or multiple cards) or to sacrifice a creature. I've talked about the synergy that Tergrid has with Pelakka Predation, but I'll mention it again here. Being able to see your opponent's hand can often be very helpful when deciding whether or not to play a spell that will force them to discard a card. With Pelakka Predation, you also get to force your opponent to discard a card with a mana value of three or more. With Tergrid on the battlefield, you can gain control of a huge creature your opponent is holding onto while they wait for the mana needed to cast it. There's nothing more demoralizing than being beaten by your own creatures.

One other card that becomes bonkers when you have a copy of Tergrid, God of Fright in play is Inscription of Ruin. For three mana, you can have your opponent discard two cards, return a creature with a mana value of two or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, or destroy a creature with a mana value of three or less. For seven mana, you can kick Inscription of Ruin when you cast it to do all three. The amount of value you can get cannot be overstated, especially when all of your creatures that have a mana value of two or less also force your opponent to discard a card.

Mono-Red

Our next stop on the color wheel is Red, a color known for its aggression. Let's take a look at the deck.

Mono-Red | KHM Standard | Unknown Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

If you're looking to play a deck that can win quickly, then look no further. This deck features a lot of hasty threats that require very little mana to bring into play. Fervent Champion gets the party started, being able to attack on the first turn. If you manage to play a second copy on your next turn, you'll be swinging for a minimum of four damage. Also, since they have first strike, it might be difficult for your opponent to remove them from the battlefield. Once you get to turn four, you'll likely be ready to add either Embercleave or Torbran, Thane of Red Fell to the battlefield. Either of these cards can allow you to gain a victory very quickly, especially against an opponent that is unprepared for such an onslaught.

However, just because this deck can win quickly, doesn't mean it has no plans for those times the game doesn't go as expected. There are a pair of flying creatures in this deck that are more than capable of finishing off a game that has stalemated. The first is Phoenix of Ash. While Phoenix of Ash starts of as a 2/2 with flying, you can pay three mana to give it a +2/+0 bonus until the end of the turn. By using this ability multiple times in a turn, you can dish out a ton of damage. You also have a copy of Goldspan Dragon in the deck, another flyer with haste. Whenever it attacks, you'll create a Treasure token. Those Treasures can be used to further build up your forces or to pay the mana cost to allow Phoenix of Ash to escape from your graveyard.

Mono-Green

The final deck I have for you this week is a Mono-Green deck that focuses on gaining +1/+1 counters. Let's take a look at it.

Mono-Green | KHM Standard | Unknown Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

This deck utilizes the power of +1/+1 counters to allow its creatures to become bigger than its opponent's creatures. Wildborn Preserver has the potential to gain a lot of +1/+1 counters during the course of a game, since the only Human creatures that could possibly enter the battlefield under your control are the 1/1 Human creature tokens created with the adventure side of Lovestruck Beast. Every other creature is a non-Human, so you'll be able to use your unspent mana on adding +1/+1 counters to it a lot of the time.

One additional benefit to having creatures with +1/+1 counters on them happens when you have Swarm Shambler on the battlefield. You'll be able to create a 1/1 Insect creature token whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it becomes targeted by an opponent's spell. Normally, since I'm such an aggressive player, I'll run out a copy of Swarm Shambler on my first turn. However, I think that's the wrong play for this deck. Hold on to your Swarm Shambler until you have another creature or two in play with +1/+1 counters. Then feel free to cast Swarm Shambler as a defensive play, enabling you to gain more value when your opponent plays targeted removal spells.

Wrapping Up

Whether or not Strixhaven: School of Mages provides any additional cards to add to these mono-colored decks, you should consider giving these decks a try. They can be a lot of fun and a good starting point for you if you're a new player on Magic Arena.

What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below. Also, feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

-Mike Likes

TAGS articles, standard, metagame, constructed, analysis, decklist, mike likes, mono-color, khm standard, 04012021

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